Exactly, How does an Air Fryer work to cut down oil use by 80%? What is the Working Principle of Air Fryer?
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Frying Without Oil?
Sounds mysterious, right! Well, there is a reasonable scientific explanation about the Working Principle of Air Fryer. But before I dig deep into how does Air Fryer work, let me make this clear, the Air Fryer doesn’t fries food like you get to have, when you deep fry it in oil. Basically, the results come out a bit different. Although, no doubt you would get that similar perfect brownish Crispy-crunch on the top when done properly.
What is an Air Fryer?
Undoubtedly, an AirFryer is an innovative kitchen countertop home appliance that helps you not only fry but also roast, grill and even bake food with the help of hot circulated air throughout. In addition, it requires very little to about 1 tablespoon of oil, depending on what you are cooking.
With the growing trends in health issues such as has a higher weight & obesity according to WHO, the introduction of AirFryer from the year 2010, has now started gaining popularity from the last couple of years based on the Working Principle of Air Fryer.
How does an Air Fryer work?
Well, talking about traditional deep frying of food, where to dive the food into a hot boiling pool of oil the heat from this hot oil transfers deep into the food making the inside juicy & outside crispy & crunch.
In an Air Fryer, the oil gets cut down by 80% and the entire work of making the food juicy & crunchy is complete with the help of intensely hot air that it circulates.
Well, to answer shortly on how does an AirFryer work, it is pretty much like a convection oven, but with smaller capacity & fewer space requirements.
Working Principle of Air Fryer:
There are two primary elements behind the Working Principle of Air Fryer, which answers for how does an Air Fryer work are:
1. Heating element 2. Fan
The heating element is quite near to the food chamber & in direct contact with the food. It heats the air surrounding which then penetrates the food from the top.
Simultaneously to intensify the process, there is a fan above the heating element that forces the air through it. This air then moves down vertically under force through a double wall chamber. An air guide in the bottom then circulates this hot air upward due to its design. Since only the bottom of the basket is open, ultimately this circulated hot air has to pass through it. Thus this helps in heating the food from the bottom.
The combination of heating the food through radiation & convection makes it cook food faster when compared to traditional convection ovens.
The Scientific aspect behind How does an Air Fryer Work:
However, this doesn’t entirely explain the Working Principle of Air Fryer or answers to how does an Air Fryer work? In short, this only heats the food, cooking aspects turns to be scientific, Maillard Reaction which in simple terms is to get that brownish cooked coat.
This heat so formed intensifies & breaks down the protein, starch & fiber in the food leading to dehydration, to form the crust we want. That is what gives fried, roasted, and baked foods their delicious, complex flavors.
Controls Behind Working Principle of Air Fryer:
However, cooking different food requires a different pattern. The temperature & time adjustments from 80°C to 200°C in the range of 30 minutes, typically help in controlling the cooking patterns.
Exhaust & Cooling:
While this air is being continuously circulated within the cooking chamber of the Air Fryer, with the rise in temperature it is quite understandable that after a while the inside pressure would also start surging.
So, in order, to avoid any dangers of overpressure it becomes quite necessary to control and release this developing overpressure. This is taken care of by venting out some portion of this air carrying the cooking smoke or steam formed, out so that the internal pressure remains within safe limits.
Mostly, AirFryers have filters that take away or remove the foul frying odor from this air being released out. How Does an Air Fryer Work?
Are Air Fryers worth Buying?
Well, with all the above details regarding Working Principle of Air Fryer, we can say that Air Fryers do stand true to their intent of reducing the oil drastically about 80% from cups to tablespoons down. In fact, the results turn out to be similar to what you get in oven-fried food, instead of being deep-fried in the oil bath.
In addition, the working principle of AirFryer is not just for frying, you get the flexible range of roasting, grilling and even baking food in the Air Fryer, right from roasting raw meat or chicken to baking finest chocolate cakes.
And all this at less hassle, less time & less power usage.
In fact, Pelcher on womenshealthmag.com quotes in one of the articles that “Air Fryer is easy in its use and thus it becomes convenient for cooking. In addition, it uses less power compared to an oven. Altogether, it is available in small as well as large sizes. As a result, it becomes easy & hassle-free to cook either for a single person or a complete whole family.”
Read Also: Air Cooler Working Principle – How an Air Cooler Works?
